Reel for strip-shaped articles

ABSTRACT

A pair of axially spaced flanges project radially from a hub and have facing inner sides provided with guide recesses which spirally surround the hub. A resiliently yieldable arm is provided on the outer circumferential marginal portion of at least one of the flanges and has a projection extending axially of the hub and which can be inserted into and withdrawn from the guide recess of the flange in question through a cut-out provided in the flange.

United States Patent [191 Bockemuehl-Simon [11] 3,819,125 [45] June 25, 1974 REEL FOR STRIP-SHAPED ARTICLES [75] Inventor: Johannes Juergen Bockemuehl-Simon, Gummersbach, Germany [73] Assignee: Johannes Bockemuehl,

Gummersbach-Derschlag, Germany [22] Filed: Sept. 7, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 286,706

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 7, 1971 Germany 7133967 [52] US. Cl 242/77.l, 95/905, 95/100 [51] Int. Cl B65h 9/00 [58] Field of Search 242/77.l, 57, 57.1;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Brearton 242/77.1

3/1961 Sroka ..242/77.l 11/1966 DAngelo 242/57 Primary Examiner.lohn W. l-luckert Assistant Examiner-Jon W. Henry Attorney, Agent, or FirmMichael S. Striker 57] ABSTRACT A pair of axially spaced flanges project radially from a hub and have facing inner sides provided with guide recesses which spirally surround the hub. A resiliently yieldable arm is provided on the outer circumferential marginal portion of at least one of the flanges and has a projection extending axially of the hub and which can be inserted into and withdrawn from the guide recess of the flange in question through a cut-out provided in the flange.

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 REEL FOR STRIP-SHAPED ARTICLES The present invention relates to a reel, and more particularly to a reel for strip-shaped articles. Still more particularly the invention relates to a reel for stripshaped articles which are to be processed, for instance film strips and the like.

In the processing of such strip-shaped articles as film strips it is already known to provide a carrier in form of a reel, the flanges of which have on their inner sides respective guide recesses which spirally surround a hub connecting the two flanges. It occurs quite frequently that more than one strip-shaped article, such as a film strip, is to be wound onto the reel, so that two or more such articles can be processed simultaneously, for instance for developing purposes. To make this readily possible it is known from the art to provide a detent arrangement which can extend into the spiral guide recess of one of the flanges, because the strip-shaped articles are lodged in these guide recesses and the purpose of the detent arrangement is to block the recess intermediate the adjacent end portions of two such articles to prevent their overlapping and interference with one another. If a single longer stripshaped article is to be placed onto the reel, it is merely necessary to withdraw the detent arrangement from the spiral guide recess.

The prior art teaches a detent arrangement in form of a passage in the flange in question, into which a projection can be inserted by axial displacement, so that the projection can be pushed forward far enough to extend into the guide recess to which the passage is open, or can be withdrawn therefrom. In both of these positions the projection is retained by appropriate retaining means.

The difficulty with this teaching of the prior art is that in particular in the construction of the detent arrangement the prior art reel is rather complicated in its construction and therefore necessarily difficult to produce and expensive in consequence. Moreover, the axially displaceable projection must be relatively large in its dimensions, in order to permit ready engagement and displacement, especially in view of the fact that this must often be carried out in darkness or in semidarkness such as in a darkroom. This in turn means that when the projection is withdrawn to its inactive position, that is to the position in which it does not extend into the guide recess of the associated flange, it will project outwardly beyond the outer side of the flange and sometimes interfere with the handling of the reel.

Clearly, therefore, further improvements in this field are desirable.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide such further improvement.

More particularly it is an object to provide a reel for strip-shaped articles, particularly film strips, which is possessed of these improvements.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a reel which utilizes a particularly simple detent arrangement, both in terms of the construction and the use.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a reel wherein the detent arrangement requires an absolute minimum ofspace regardless of the particular position in which it is at a particular time.

In keeping with the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a reel for strip-shaped articles, particularly film strips, which briefly stated comprises a hub and a pair of axially spaced flanges projecting radially from this hub. These flanges have facing inner sides provided with guide recesses which spirally surround the hub. Article-engaging detent means is provided on at least one of the flanges and comprises an arm having one end fast with the flange and being movable into and out of the general plane of the latter, and a projection provided on the arm and arranged to enter into the guide recess of the associated flange when the arm is moved into the aforementioned general plane thereof.

With this construction I obtain not only considerable structural simplicity, which in turn is reflected in ease of manufacturing and consequent low production cost of the reel. I further obtain a detent arrangement which is very pl tv s n hi h does qt rt y e i 1- terfere with the handling of the reel, for instance on insertion or removal from a developer tank or the like, irrespective of the detent arrangement being in operative or in inoperative position.

It is advantageous, according to one embodiment, for the arm to be of springy material, that is of material which is elastically yieldable. In this case, the projec tion is so located that when the arm is withdrawn out of the general plane of the associated flange, the projection will engage the outer side of the flange and will thus prevent the arm from automatically returning to its position located in the general plane, whereas on the other hand a slight deformation of the arm disengages the projection from the outer side of the flange and permits it to enter into the guide recess. it is particularly advantageous if the arm is made of one piece with the projection and is composed of a synthetic plastic material having the requisite ability to elastically yield. Such an arm can be readily produced by injection-molding or the like, and is simple to manufacture. The arm can then be fastened to an outer circumferential marginal portion of its associated flange with its one end, either by heat welding, by adhesive means -or by any other suitable type of bonding.

However, the arm can also be provided at its end which is to be connected with the associated flange with a detent portion which can be engaged in a suitable aperture which can be provided in the outer marginal circumference of the flange. This makes it possible, if and when desired, to exchange the arm for another one, for instance in case of damage, or if two or more of the apertures are provided, the position of the arm on the flange can be varied by inserting the detent portion into whichever aperture is selected. It is advantageous to provide the detent portion as an elongated portion whose transverse dimension is smaller than its longitudinal dimension but at most approaches the dimension of the aperture in the flange. Then, the detent portion can be inserted into this aperture if the detent portion is given a predetermined orientation relative to the aperture, namely such that it can pass therethrough. A subsequent change of the orientation of the detent portion, for instance by twisting the same or by changing the position of the arm, has the detent portion extending across the aperture and prevents unintentional withdrawal therethrough. This permits a reliable retention of the arm on the associated flange, with the arm being readily and quickly engageable with the flange, but on the other hand permits its separation if and when desired.

It is also advantageous if the projection on the arm is inwardly recessed from the free end of the arm, that is the end which is not connected with the flange, so that the end portion extending from the free end to the projection can be used as a handle which is engageable by the fingers of an operator.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its structure and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is an end-elevational view of a reel embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken on line II-II of FIG. 1 with the detent arrangement being in operative position;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the same line II-II of FIG. 1, but with the detent arrangement in inoperative position; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end-elevational view illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.

Discussing now firstly the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 13, it will be seen that it is in form of a reel having two flanges which are here of circular configuration and; axially spaced from one another. The flanges are designated with reference numerals l and 11. The reel further has a hub l2, l3, and in the illustrated embodiment the hub portion 12 is fast or of one piece with the flange and the hub portion 13 is fast or of one piece with the flange 11, with the two hub portions being telescoped together as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. However, the hub portions 12 and 13 could also be of one piece with one another. The purpose of making them of two pieces is so that by telescoping them together or apart to different extents, the reel can accept stripshaped articles of different widths.

The flange l0 and the flange 11 are each provided on their respective inwardly facing sides with guide recesses 17 which spirally surround the hub l2, 13, that is which extend in a spiral from the hub to the outer edge of the respective flange l0 and 11. The film strip or other strip-shaped article or articles are inserted into these guide recesses 17.

It will be seen that in the illustrated embodiment the flanges 10 and 11 are provided with large cut-outs (see FIG. 1) and that the guide recesses are defined by spirally convoluted ribs 18 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) which are each open both to the inner side and to the outer side of the respective flange. The ribs 18 are, however, located inwardly of the outer supporting skeleton S (see FIGS. 1 and 2) of the respective flanges so that stripshaped articles accommodated in the recesses 17 cannot spill out of them in outward direction.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a detent arrangement, here on the flange 10 although it could be provided on the flange 11 or on both of the flanges. The detent arrangement is designated with reference numeral 14 and has an arm 16 provided with a projection 15 which extends in axial direction of the hub l2, 13. The arm 16 is of resiliently yieldable material, for instance a synthetic plastic having the requisite characteristics, and one end of the arm 16 is fast with the outer circumferential margin of the associated flange, here the flange 10. The connection can be provided by suitable bonding, by bonding with the aid of adhesive means for example, or by means of heat welding if the materials of the flange and of the arm are suitable for such purpose, for instance two metals, two plastics, or the like.

The arm can be resiliently moved into (see FIG. 2) and out of (see FIG. 3) the general plane of its associated flange 10. When it is in the operative position shown in FIG. 2, in which the arm is located in the general plane of the flange 10, the projection of the arm 16, that is the projection 15, extends into the recess 17, and advantageously the position is so chosen that the projection will be located substantially midway between the outer edge of the flange l0 and the connection of the flange 10 with the hub 12, 13. Thus, the recess 17 is blocked by the projection 15 and the end of a strip-shaped article located in that portion of the recess 17 which extends from the projection 15 to the hub 12, 13 will be separated from the end of a second strip-shaped article located in that portion of the recess 17 which extends from the projection 15 to the outer marginal portion of the flange 10. Thus, an overlapping of these adjacent end portions is impossible, and the disadvantages which can be the result of such overlapping, for instance in terms of uneven development of film material, are avoided.

When the subdivision of the recess 17 is not required, for instance when a single long strip of material is to be accommodated in the recesses 17, then the arm 16 is simply bent outwardly out of the general plane of its associated flange 10, to the position shown in FIG. 3. The projection is so located that when such a movement of the arm 16 is performed, it will abut the outer side of the flange 10, and more particularly the edge of one of the convolutions of the ribs 18 which bound that turn of the recess 17 in which the projection 15 is receivable. Thus, the projection 15 prevents the arm 16 from returning into the general plane of the flange 10 under the biasing influence of its elastically yieldable material, and such return requires a deliberate act of the op erator who must slightly deform the arm to disengage the projection 15 from the rib 18.

It should be noted, particularly from FIG. 3, that the projection 15 is inwardly spaced from the free end of the arm 16, that is the end which is not connected with the flange 10, so that the portion of the arm 16 which extends from this free end to the projection 15 can serve as a handle for engagement by the fingers of an operator.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 only the manner in which the arm 16 with its projection 15' is connected with the flange 10 differs from FIG. 1. In all other respects the embodiment of FIG. 4 corresponds to that of FIGS. 1-3.

In FIG. 4 the arm 16' tapers in the region of its end which is connected with the flange 10, having an elastically bendable elongated detent portion 20 which is advantageously of one piece with the arm 16. The outer circumferential marginal portion of the flange 10 is provided with an aperture 21 extending from the inner to the outer side of the flange 10 and through which the detent portion 20 can be pushed when it is longitudinally aligned with the aperture 21. Thereupon the detent portion 20 is either twisted to the broken-line position shown in FIG. 4, or the arm 16' is requisitely moved, so that the detent portion 20 extends transversely of the aperture 21 and reliably but releasably connects the arm 16' with the flange 10. The width of the arm 16', incidentally, is substantially greater than the dimension of the aperture 21, as shown, so that the arm cannot slip into the aperture either.

In all other respects the embodiment of FIG. 4 corresponds to that of FIGS. 1-3 and like components are designated with like reference numerals to which a prime has been added.

It is advantageous to make the arm and the projection of one piece with another, and they can be simply and inexpensively produced of synthetic plastic mate rial, for instance by injection-molding.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the crosssectional configuration of the projection or 15 may differ from what has been illustrated, and that any cross-sectional configuration can be used as long as the thus-configurated projection can be inserted into a portion of a respective recess 17 and block the same. Also, the arm could be connected in different manner with the respective flange of the reel, for instance by a snapaction coupling or by a hinge connection, to name just two possibilities. In fact, the arm could be rigid, rather than being resiliently yieldable, and it could be so connected with the associated flange that its movement in a sense inserting and withdrawing the projection from the guide recess would nevertheless be possible. It is also conceivable to make the arm of one piece with the associated flange, especially if they should be of synthetic plastic material, and it goes without saying that more than one projection can be provided on a single arm, that more than one arm can be provided on a single flange, and that arms with projections can be provided on both flanges if desired.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more in combination, may find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a reel for strip-shaped articles, it is not to be considered limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various modifications and applications without departing from the basic inventive concept and, therefore, such modifications are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

1. A reel for strip-shaped articles, particularly film strips, comprising a hub; a pair of axially spaced flanges projecting radially from said hub and having facing inner sides each provided with an elongated guide recess spirally surrounding said hub and adapted to accommodate the marginal portions of at least one stripshaped article; and detent means provided on at least one of said flanges and comprising an arm having a first end fast with said at least one flange and a free second end, and a projection provided on said arm spaced from said first end, said arm being movable between a detaining position in which said projection enters into and subdivides the guide recess of said at least one flange into two longitudinally consecutive portions, so that passage of the at least one strip-shaped article from one into the other one of said two longitudinally consecutive portions of said guide recess is prevented, and a retracted position in which said projection is located outside the guide recess of said [t least one flange so 3hat free passage of the at least one strip-shaped article 3hrough the entire lengths of said guide recesses of said pair of flanges rs permitted.

2. A reel as defined in claim 1, said at least one flange being provided with at least one cutout which extends through said at least one flange and communicates the outer side thereof with said guide recess; and wherein said projection is insertable and withdrawable from said outer side through said at least one cutout.

3. A reel as defined in claim 2, wherein said arm is elastically yieldable and said projection is positioned on said arm so as to abut said outer side of said at least one flange adjacent said at least one cutout when said arm is moved into said retracted position, whereby to maintain said arm against elastic return into said detaining position.

4. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said projection extends axially of said hub and towards the other of said flanges.

5. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least said arm and said projection are of one piece and of resiliently yieldable synthetic plastic material.

6. A reel as defined in claim I, wherein said first end of said arm is fast with an outer circumferential marginal portion of said one flange.

7. A reel as defined in claim 6, wherein said first end of said arm is bonded to said marginal portion of said at least one flange.

8. A reel as defined in claim 6, said marginal portion having an aperture, and said first end of said arm comprising a detent portion received and engaged in said aperture.

9. A reel as defined in claim 8, said detent portion being elongated and having a transverse dimension which is smaller than its longitudinal dimension but at most approaches the dimension of said aperture, so that said detent portion is insertable through said aperture in a predetermined orientation and is engaged therein against withdrawal when its orientation is thereupon changed.

10. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said projection is provided on said arm intermediate said second free end and said first end. 

1. A reel for strip-shaped articles, particularly film strips, comprising a hub; a pair of axially spaced flanges projecting radially from said hub and having facing inner sides each provided with an elongated guide recess spirally surrounding said hub and adapted to accommodate the marginal portions of at least one strip-shaped article; and detent means provided on at least one of said flanges and comprising an arm having a first end fast with said at least one flange and a free second end, and a projection provided on said arm spaced from said first end, said arm being movable between a detaining position in which said projection enters into and subdivides the guide recess of said at least one flange into two longitudinally consecutive portions, so that passage of the at least one strip-shaped article from one into the other one of said two longitudinally consecutive portions of said guide recess is prevented, and a retracted position in which said projection is located outside the guide recess of said at least one flange so that free passage of the at least one strip-shaped article through the entire lengths of said guide recesses of said pair of flanges is permitted.
 2. A reel as defined in claim 1, said at least one flange being provided with at least one cutout which extends through said at least one flange and communicates the outer side thereof with said guide recess; and wherein said projection is insertable and withdrawable from said outer side through said at least one cutout.
 3. A reel as defined in claim 2, wherein said arm is elastically yieldable and said projection is positioned on said arm so as to abut said outer side of said at least one flange adjacent said at least one cutout when said arm is moved into said retracted position, whereby to maintain said arm against elastic return into said detaining position.
 4. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said projection extends axially of said hub and towards the other of said flanges.
 5. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein at least said arm and said projection are of one piece and of resiliently yieldable synthetic plastic material.
 6. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said first end of said arm is fast with an outer circumferential marginal portion of said one flange.
 7. A reel as defined in claim 6, wherein said first end of said arm is bonded to said marginaL portion of said at least one flange.
 8. A reel as defined in claim 6, said marginal portion having an aperture, and said first end of said arm comprising a detent portion received and engaged in said aperture.
 9. A reel as defined in claim 8, said detent portion being elongated and having a transverse dimension which is smaller than its longitudinal dimension but at most approaches the dimension of said aperture, so that said detent portion is insertable through said aperture in a predetermined orientation and is engaged therein against withdrawal when its orientation is thereupon changed.
 10. A reel as defined in claim 1, wherein said projection is provided on said arm intermediate said second free end and said first end. 